Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC Purchases New Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,954 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,208,711 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,022,564,000 after buying an additional 1,298,219 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,016,235 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,229,122,000 after buying an additional 343,559 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,153,877 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,164,611,000 after buying an additional 32,157 shares during the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 9,149,611 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,007,098,000 after buying an additional 135,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,949,700 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $576,228,000 after buying an additional 20,851 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT traded up $0.32 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $106.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,096,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,607,345. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $184.43 billion, a PE ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.44.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,935 shares of company stock valued at $1,670,048 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.50.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The company provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Ménière's disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon.